Is Being Described as “Very Katie” a Good or Bad Thing for Katie Holmes’s New Fashion Line?

As part of her professional re-invention following her barely publicized divorce from Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes made her New York Fashion Week debut on Wednesday. During a private presentation (rather than a full runway show) in the Lincoln Center tents, the actress/designer and her collaborator, Jeanne Yang, premiered their spring 2013 collection, which included a strapless black-and-silver dress, slouchy leather pants, a pair of red shorts paired with a camel- colored capelet, and, according toThe New York Times, “a dress with a questionable floral print.” For some editors on hand, the 14-ensemble presentation was selectively well-received, judging by reactions from*Glamour* (“Great separates!”) and InStyle (“Don't you want this dress in your wardrobe?”).

For others, the collection elicited more of a shrug reaction. New York Times fashion editor Eric Wilson contested that the presentation felt “much like Katie.” In his online write-up, Wilson elaborated, “Fourteen outfits on 14 models, none of them especially interesting other than that the models’ hair was pulled back into a ponytail in the style of Katie Holmes.”

Coining a new adjective that we cannot yet classify as positive, negative, or neutral (or even just predictable), stylist Elizabeth Tran similarly dubbed the collection “very Katie.” Other sites, Twitter fashionistas, and casual observers noted that the “very Katie”–ness extended beyond the hair and clothing to the models’ minimalist make-up and even a few of the models themselves. Boldly, The Hollywood Reporterdared to say that the collection, whose pieces are priced between $700 and $3,000, was only “slightly Katie”: “All in all, the clothes on models seemed a little bit younger and girlier than what the 33-year-old soon-to-be-ex-Tom Cruise wears—and somewhat more commercial.”

Let us know how “Katie” you think the 2013 Holmes & Yang spring collection is in the space below.